You’ve just gotten Scout out of the tub after his weekly (ok, monthly) bath. After a thorough towel rub-down you convince yourself Scout is likely dry enough and you pull the towel away and gear up for the post bath zoomies. But wait, Scout knows he isn’t quite dry yet, and with a quick side eye delivered your way he starts to twist and turn his body, a barrage of leftover water droplets cover your face, clothes, walls, children, and anything else that has the misfortune to be within a 10 foot radius.

Why do dogs always have to shake themselves off when wet? Do hoomans really stink at drying off their pups or does it just feel good?

Think of it this way, as hoomans, we are pretty technologically advanced as a species e.g. electricity, and walking on the moon. However when we wash a load of laundry and throw it in the dryer, it takes an average of 40 minutes for those clothes to become dry. A dog on the other hand is much more effective at the drying process and gets it done in a fraction of the time.

If you reach over and give Scout a little squeeze, you will notice he has a bit of loose skin. That, combined with the makeup of dog hair means that by shaking, they can release excess water from their fur, with very minimal effort. In fact, a dog can shake off 90% of water in under a second!

Pups are SO much better at drying than we are, that scientists are even studying their methods in hope that we hoomans can recreate maximum dryness with such minimal effort expenditure.

So far, we unfortunately have not been able to copy these impressive results, but we should be thoroughly impressed by this feat of evolution, and make sure to always have a towel handy to block our faces.